Harrisburg, IL Tornado damage - AP Photo

HARRISBURG, Ill. (AP) — A pre-dawn twister flattened entire blocks of homes in a small Illinois town Wednesday as violent storms ravaged the Midwest and South, killing at least 12 people in three states.

Winds also ripped through the country music mecca of Branson, Mo., damaging some of the city’s famous theaters just days before the start of the busy tourist season.

The tornado that blasted Harrisburg in southern Illinois, killing six, was an EF4, the second-highest rating given to twisters based on damage. Scientists said it was 200 yards wide with winds up to 170 mph. (more…)

It seems our wetter than normal winter will do some good this spring!  UT and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center are saying the wildflowers this year will be more bountiful than last year.

Courtesy: Flaigg, Norman G.

Winter Rains in Texas Bring Good Spring Wildflower Show

AUSTIN, Texas — Timely rains last fall and this winter have benefited early spring wildflowers, which will likely put on a good show in much of Texas despite last year’s drought, according to the senior botanist at The University of Texas at Austin’s Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

“The seeds left behind by annual wildflowers such as bluebonnets don’t care if it’s the worst drought in recorded history, as long as they get bouts of rain at the right time for germination and growth,” said Damon Waitt, who also is the center’s senior director.

The bumper crop of wildflowers in 2010 also helped add to the seed stockpile in Texas soils that can be revived by recent rains. Rain showers should provide decent viewings in regions of North, Central and East Texas. However, it is possible that the Panhandle, South and West Texas won’t fare as well.

(more…)

Meteor over Texas Feb. 1st

In the middle of the night on February 13th, something disturbed the animal population of rural Portal, Georgia. Cows started mooing anxiously and local dogs howled at the sky. The cause of the commotion was a rock from space.

“At 1:43 AM Eastern, I witnessed an amazing fireball,” reports Portal resident Henry Strickland. “It was very large and lit up half the sky as it fragmented. The event set dogs barking and upset cattle, which began to make excited sounds. I regret I didn’t have a camera; it lasted nearly 6 seconds.”

Strickland witnessed one of the unusual “Fireballs of February.”

A fireball over north Georgia recorded on Feb. 13th by a NASA all-sky camera in Walker Co., GA. [video]

“This month, some big space rocks have been hitting Earth’s atmosphere,” says Bill Cooke of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office. “There have been five or six notable fireballs that might have dropped meteorites around the United States.”

It’s not the number of fireballs that has researchers puzzled. So far, fireball counts in February 2012 are about normal. Instead, it’s the appearance and trajectory of the fireballs that sets them apart. (more…)

Since the Earth actually takes about 365 days and a little less than 6 hours to make a complete trip around the sun, every 4 years we make up the added hours with a Leap Day.  However, because the math doesn’t work perfectly, every 100 years there is not a Leap Day.  Again, that math doesn’t work perfectly either, so every 400 years there IS a Leap Day.  Following yet?  So Leap Day happens this year in 2012, and did in 2000, but not in 1900 or 2100, and will again in 2400.  Ok, so what is the weather like on Leap Day here in Austin?  Not too much different that what you would find on February 28th or March 1st.  I went to the files that the National Climatic Data Center keeps and searched the records from 1940-2008 (18 leap days) and found some interesting data.  Normally speaking for a day that falls between February 28th-March 1st, at Camp Mabry a normal high temp is 68, and a normal low temp is 48, with precipitation average of 0.07″.  According to the National Weather Service, the records for the date are 92 (1940), 30 (1924), and 0.53″ in 1996.

If you look at the table above you will notice some interesting recurring events.  I made some charts to give these a more visual understanding.

So based off of the data reported from the last 18 Leap Days here in Austin, you can see that the most typical weather is a high temp of 81 (happened 5 times 28%), low temp of 50 (happened 3 times 17%), with fair weather (happened 10 times 56%), and no precip. (happened 13 times 72%).  As crazy as it is that we recorded a high temp 81 degrees on 5 different Leap Days since 1940, I am going to stick with my forecast…  Mostly sunny skies, morning low of 62, afternoon high of 76.   For the record, that would be the 11th fair weather Leap Day since 1940, the 1st 76 degree day, and the 2nd morning low of 62!

If you have looked into the Western Sky this evening (between 7-9p), you can’t miss the Moon and its friends in the sky.  In fact, this is a great time to look for the planets, we still have dry air at the surface and aloft tonight.  In addition, clear skies, and a waxing crescent of the Moon make the planets stand out even more.

I took a picture (with my cell phone, so don’t judge my photography skills too much) of the planets this evening.  Also, I took a still shot from the Google Sky Maps app on Android to show you what we were looking at.  (click on them for full sized images)

Tonight is the time of the month when Venus “appears” to be the closest it will be to the moon.  However, this is just an optical trick on us, as they are just lined up closely with respect to us.  The moon is roughly 240,000 miles away from us, Venus at its closest is about 23,600,000 miles from earth, or about 23.36 million miles from the moon…. not exactly close.  When Jupiter and Earth are closest, they are about 391,000,000 miles apart.  That means the light you are seeing from Jupiter tonight, happened about 35 mins before you viewed it!  That’s right, it takes light 35 minutes to travel from Jupiter to Earth!

If you didn’t get the chance to see the Moon, Venus, and Jupiter, just look up and you should be able to spot Mars tonight as well!

WeatherFest
Saturday, February 25, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Get blown away by Texas Severe Weather Awareness Week with a full day of weather science and fun for the whole family.

Take an up close look at one of the world’s most dramatic natural events and the science behind them during a free screening of Hurricane on the Bayou in the IMAX® Theatre at 10 a.m. See storm chasing and water rescue vehicles up close and test your ability to predict and survive severe weather with activities presented by Girlstart, YNN, the National Weather Service, and more. Dr. Burton Fitzsimmons, Chief Meteorologist at YNN will be giving a special presentation in the Texas Spirit Theater at 11:00 a.m. Teachers will earn CPE hours by attending this lecture.

Finally, don’t miss a free screening of the Museum’s original multimedia presentation, Wild Texas Weather, in the Texas Spirit Theater at 12:30 p.m. This production explores the fascinating phenomenon of tumultuous weather in the Lone Star State, both past and present.

Full Schedule of Events

FREE Family Activities

10 a.m.
Free Screening of Hurricane on the Bayou*
IMAX® Theatre

10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Meet Meteorologists and Weather Experts
Girlstart’s Weather Science Extravaganza

11:00 a.m.
Special Presentation by Dr. Burton Fitzsimmons, YNN
Texas Spirit Theater

12:30 p.m.
Free Screening of Wild Texas Weather*
Texas Spirit Theater

Weather Safety Training

10 – 11:30 a.m.
NWS Skywarn® Basic Training
Austin Room

11:30a.m. – noon
Spotter Safety Course
Austin Room

12:30 – 2p.m.
NWS Skywarn ®Advanced Training
Austin Room

Click here for more information about Skywarn® training.

Educators Workshops – CPE Hours Available

11:00 a.m.
Special Presentation by Dr. Burton Fitzsimmons, YNN
Texas Spirit Theater

1 – 3 p.m.
UTeach Professional Development
Museum Boardroom

*regular admission applies to additional films and exhibits

A strong cold front blasted through our area last night bringing temps down almost 30 degrees from yesterday.  It should be noted our high temp yesterday was 25 degrees above normal, and today’s forecast high is 5 degrees below normal.  Besides the much colder air, we also have had some strong winds today.  The Wind Advisory from this morning has expired, but we could still see some wind gusts in excess of 30mph.  On a day like today when the winds are stronger than normal, it is caused by areas of high pressure and low pressure being closer together than normal, and our backyards are the playground for the pressure.  The air molecules from the high pressure center move away towards the center of the low pressure trying to equalize the overall pressure in the area.  Another way of thinking of this, imagine you are on a bike and you do not want to peddle the wheels.  So if you want to move from point a to b, again without having to do work, you would start on top of a hill (high pressure) and end at the bottom (low pressure).  The closer together the top and bottom of the hill are, the faster you will travel (like faster winds).  If the top and bottom of the hill are far apart, you will move slower.

If you thought the winds today were strong in our area, look at what the folks at NASA have found, a black hole with a wind speed that clocked in around 20 million miles per hour!!!!

(The image and the story come from the NASA website)

Our weekly update from the U.S. Drought Monitor showed more improvement in our local drought conditions. Much of the Austin area has improved significantly–3 drought categories– since last month.  Extreme drought conditions continue over much of the Hill Country.

In another sign of improving drought conditions, drought restrictions have been eased in the Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District. Here are those details from the BSEACD:

(Austin)  The Board of Directors of the Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District eased drought restrictions from Stage III Critical Drought to Stage II Alarm at its Board meeting this evening, effective immediately.  With above average rainfall this winter, soils reached saturation and runoff created enough creek flow to contribute some recharge to the aquifer.  Both of the District’s drought triggers have now crossed back over their respective Stage II Alarm Drought thresholds.  The Lovelady Monitor Well depth-to-water is above 190.7 feet and continues to rise; the Barton Springs 10-day average discharge is well above its 20 cubic feet per second threshold.

While water levels in the aquifer are on the rise, without continued above average rainfall, the District could find itself back in Stage III Critical Drought this summer. “In 2010, Hurricane Alex and Tropical Storm Hermine brought record rainfall to Central Texas.  This time we’ve seen smaller, more frequent rain events that are finally causing slow rises in our monitoring wells,” commented Brian Smith, Principal Hydrogeologist with the District. (more…)

The Lower Colorado River Authority is changing how they release water from the Highland Lakes so they can better cope with a drought like the one we’re in. The LCRA’s board of directors approved a new water management plan Wednesday.

Lake Buchanan during drought (Courtesy: Michael Taylor)

Here’s more from the LCRA: